Field effect transistor contact with reduced contact resistance

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a method that includes providing a semiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region; forming a first gate within the first region and a second gate within the second region on the semiconductor substrate; forming first source/drain features of a first semiconductor material with an n-type dopant in the semiconductor substrate within the first region; forming second source/drain features of a second semiconductor material with a p-type dopant in the semiconductor substrate within the second region. The second semiconductor material is different from the first semiconductor material in composition. The method further includes forming first silicide features to the first source/drain features and second silicide features to the second source/drain features; and performing an ion implantation process of a species to both the first and second regions, thereby introducing the species to first silicide features and the second source/drain features.

BACKGROUND

In advanced technology nodes of integrated circuit industry, thecritical dimensions of semiconductor devices become smaller and smaller.Various new compositions and structures are adopted. For examples, ahigh k dielectric material and metal are used to form a gate stack of afield-effect transistor (FET) such as a metal-oxide-semiconductorfield-effect transistor (MOSFET). Three dimensional (3D) fin fieldeffect transistors (FINFETs) are also used. Contact resistance plays akey factor to boost I_(on)/I_(off) performance on FinFET devices,especially below N10 generation. Even though silicide is formed on thesource and drain to reduce the contact resistance. However, the existingmethod cannot effectively reduce the contact resistance whilemaintaining other parameters of the devices and the overall of thedevice performance. Especially, the contact area is constrained due tothe device scaling. Higher implantation for dopant boosting may improvethe contact resistance but the high concentration dopant may diffuse tothe channel and shift threshold voltage.

What is needed is a semiconductor structure with reduced contactresistance and the method making the same to address the above issues

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isemphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in theindustry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, thedimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased orreduced for clarity of discussion.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for making a semiconductor structureconstructed in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 2A, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are sectional views of a semiconductorstructure at various fabrication stages constructed in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2B is a sectional view of a semiconductor structure at afabrication stage constructed in accordance with some other embodiments.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are sectional views of the semiconductor structure of FIG.6, in portion, constructed in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for making a semiconductor structureconstructed in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for making a semiconductor structureconstructed in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method for making a semiconductor structureconstructed in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for making a semiconductor structureconstructed in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 are sectional views of asemiconductor structure at various fabrication stages constructed inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 20 is a sectional view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 19,in portion, constructed in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides manydifferent embodiments, or examples, for implementing different featuresof various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangementsare described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, ofcourse, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Inaddition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/orletters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose ofsimplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationshipbetween the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.Moreover, the formation of a first feature over or on a second featurein the description that follows may include embodiments in which thefirst and second features are formed in direct contact, and may alsoinclude embodiments in which additional features may be formedinterposing the first and second features, such that the first andsecond features may not be in direct contact.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method 20 making asemiconductor structure having both n-type and p-type field effectdevices constructed according to aspects of the present disclosure.FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 3-8 are sectional views of a semiconductor structure50 at various fabrication stages in accordance with some embodiments.The semiconductor structure 50 and the method 20 of making the same arecollectively described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B and 3 through8.

The method 20 begins at 22 by providing a semiconductor substrate 52, asillustrated in FIG. 2A. The semiconductor substrate 52 includes silicon.Alternatively, the substrate 52 includes germanium or silicon germanium.In other embodiments, the substrate 210 may use another semiconductormaterial such as diamond, silicon carbide, gallium arsenic, GaAsP,AlInAs, AlGaAs, GaInP, or other proper combination thereof.

The semiconductor substrate 52 includes a first active region (or firstregion) 54 for one or more n-type field-effect transistor (FET) and asecond active region (or second region) 56 for one or more p-type FET.The first active region 54 and the second active region may be separatedfrom each other by various isolation features, such as shallow trenchisolation (STI) features 58, formed in the semiconductor substrate 52.The formation of the STI may include etching a trench in a substrate andfilling the trench by insulator materials such as silicon oxide, siliconnitride, or silicon oxynitride. The filled trench may have a multi-layerstructure such as a thermal oxide liner layer with silicon nitridefilling the trench. In one embodiment, the STI structure may be createdusing a process sequence such as: growing a pad oxide, forming a lowpressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) nitride layer, patterning anSTI opening using photoresist and masking, etching a trench in thesubstrate, optionally growing a thermal oxide trench liner to improvethe trench interface, filling the trench with CVD oxide, and usingchemical mechanical planarization (CMP) to polish and planarize.

In some embodiments, the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 52and the top surfaces of the STI features 58 are substantially coplanar,resulting in a common top surface. This is referred to as a planarstructure. In other embodiments, the top surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 52 and the top surfaces of the STI features 58 are notcoplanar, resulting in a three-dimensional structure, such as a finstructure 45 illustrated in FIG. 2B. In a 3D structure having FinFETdevices, the active regions (54 and 56) are extended above the topsurface of the STI features 58. The fin structure 45 may be formed byvarious techniques. In some embodiments, the fin structure 45 is formedby recessing the STI features 58, such as by selective etching. In someother embodiments, the fin structure 45 is formed by selective epitaxygrowth (SEG). In the SEG process, the fin active region 54 (or 56) isformed with a semiconductor material same to that of the substrate 52(such as silicon) or different (such as silicon germanium or siliconcarbide) to further achieve other functions (e.g., straining effect).The most figures below are still use planar structure for simplicity.However, it is not limited to the planar structure.

Still referring to FIG. 2A, the semiconductor substrate 52 also includesvarious doped features, such as n-well and p-wells formed by a propertechnique, such as ion implantation. In some embodiments, the firstactive region 54 includes a p-type well 60 doped by a p-type dopant,such as boron, aluminum or gallium; and the second active region 56includes an n-type well 62 doped by an n-type dopant, such asphosphorous or arsenic. In some embodiments, the first active region 54is designed to form one or more p-type FET (pFET); and the second activeregion 56 is designed to form one or more n-type FET (nFET). A p-type(or n-type) dopant may be introduced to the corresponding doped well 54(or 56) through an opening of a mask layer by a suitable doping process,such as one or more ion implantation. The STI features 58 furtherfunctions to define the dopants to the desired active regions. In thepresent embodiment, both nFETs and pFETs are formed the substrate 52,such as in complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits.

Referring to FIG. 3, the method 20 proceeds to an operation 24 byforming one or more gate stacks 64 on the semiconductor substrate 52.The gate stack 64 includes a gate dielectric layer 66 and a gateconductive layer 68. The formation of the gate stack 64 includesdeposition and patterning. The patterning further includes lithographyprocess and etching. A hard mask layer may be further used to patternthe gate stack 64. In some embodiments, the gate dielectric layer 66includes a high k dielectric material layer formed on the semiconductorsubstrate 52. In some embodiments, the gate electrode 68 includes ametal, polysilicon or other suitable conductive material or acombination thereof. The gate stack 64 may further include aninterfacial layer (IL) 70 interposed between the semiconductor substrate52 and the high k dielectric material layer 68. In some embodiments, thegate stack 64 further includes gate spacer 72 of one or more dielectricmaterial formed on the sidewalls of the gate stack 64. In variousembodiments, the gate stack 64 may be formed in a gate-first process, agate-last process or a high-k last process. For example in the high-klast process, a dummy gate is formed and a new gate stack with metalgate electrode and high-k dielectric layer is formed to replace thedummy gate at a later fabrication stage. It is also noted that the gatestack in the first active region 54 and the gate stack in the secondactive region 56 may be formed differently in term of composition andconfiguration for matching the work functions and enhanced deviceperformance.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the method 20 includes an operation 26 toform source and drain features (or source/drain features or S/Dfeatures) in the semiconductor substrate 52. In the operation 26, theS/D features are formed on the substrate and interposed by thecorresponding gate stack 64.

In some examples, the source and drain features include doping speciesintroduced by a proper technique, such as epitaxy growth with in-situdoping, or epitaxy growth plus ion implantation. Particularly, first S/Dfeatures 74 are formed in the first active region 54 and first S/Dfeatures 76 are formed in the second active region 56. The first S/Dfeatures 74 include a first semiconductor material doped with an n-typedopant, such as phosphorous or arsenic. The second S/D features 76include a second semiconductor material doped with a p-type dopant, suchas boron. The second semiconductor material is different from the firstmaterial in composition. In some embodiments, the first semiconductormaterial is silicon or silicon carbide. In some embodiments, the secondsemiconductor material is silicon germanium or silicon. At least one ofthe first semiconductor material and the second semiconductor materialis different from the semiconductor material of the semiconductorsubstrate 52. Those S/D features are designed to generate strain effectand thereby enhance carrier mobility to the nFET channel and pFETchannel, respectively. The formation of the source and drain includes aproper fabrication procedure. In some embodiments, the formation of thefirst S/D features 74 includes etching to recess the semiconductorsubstrate within the source and drain areas; and epitaxy growing thefirst semiconductor material with in-situ dopant, wherein the gas forepitaxy growth includes the first semiconductor material-containingchemical and an n-type dopant-containing chemical. The formation of thesecond S/D features 76 is a similar procedure but with respectivechemicals for the second semiconductor material and p-type dopant. Insome embodiment, the S/D features may include light doped drain (LDD)features and heavily doped source/drain, collectively referred to as S/Dfeatures. The heavily doped source/drain may be formed by respective ionimplantation. One or more thermal annealing process is followed toactivate the doped species. The formation of the S/D features mayinclude additional operations or alternatives according to differentembodiments, which will be further described at a later stage.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the method 20 proceeds to an operation 28 toform an interlayer dielectric (ILD) material 78 on the substrate 52 andthe gate stack 64. The ILD 78 is deposited by a proper technique, suchas CVD. The ILD 78 includes a dielectric material, such as siliconoxide, low k dielectric material or a combination. Then a chemicalmechanical polishing (CMP) process may be applied thereafter toplanarize the surface of the ILD 78. In one example, the gate stack isexposed by the CMP process for the subsequent processing steps. Inanother example that the hard mask to pattern the gate stack 64 is notremoved at the previous operation, the CMP removes the hard mask aswell. Alternatively the CMP stops on the hard mask and the hard mask isremoved thereafter by an etch process.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the method 20 may further includes anoperation 30 by replacing the gate stack 64 with respective metal gate.In this case, the gate stacks 64 are dummy gates. The operation 30includes partially or completely removing the dummy gates, resulting ingate trenches; filling in the gate trenches with one or more metal; andpolishing to remove excessive metal using CMP or other suitablepolishing technique. In the operation 30, the removing the dummy gateincludes one or more etching steps to selectively remove the gateconductive layer 68 or alternatively the gate stack 64 by a suitableetching process, such as one or more wet etch, dry etch or acombination. In the operation 30, the various gate material layers arefilled in the gate trenches by deposition, such as CVD, PVD, plating,ALD or other suitable techniques. In some embodiments such as in high-klast process, the gate material layers include a gate dielectric layerand a gate conductive layer (or gate electrode). The gate dielectriclayer includes a high-k dielectric material. The gate conductive layerincludes metal. In some embodiments, the gate conductive layer includemultiple layers, such as a capping layer, a work function metal layer, ablocking layer and a filling metal layer (such as aluminum or tungsten).The gate material layers may further include an interfacial layer, suchas silicon oxide, interposed between the substrate 52 and the high-kdielectric material. The interfacial layer is a portion of the gatedielectric layer. After the gate replacement, the gate stacks aredifferent from the dummy gate stacks in composition.

Referring to FIG. 4, the method proceeds to an operation 32 to formcontact holes 80 in the ILD 78. The formation of the contact holes 80includes etching the ILD material 78 such that the S/D features 74 and76 are exposed within the contact holes 80. The contact holes 80 areconfigured to be aligned to the S/D features 74 and 76. The etchingprocess may include one or more etch steps, such as wet etch or dry etchor a combination thereof, designed to selectively etch the ILD material.In some embodiments, a mask is formed on the ILD material 78 andincludes openings that define the areas for contact holes. The mask maybe a hard mask (such as a dielectric material. For example silicon oxideor silicon nitride) or a soft mask (such as photoresist) is formed by aphotolithography process. Thereafter, the etching process is applied tothe ILD material using the mask as an etch mask. In some otherembodiments, the contact holes 80 are formed by a self-aligned contact(SAC) process. In the SAC process, the etching process is applied to theILD material using the gate as hard mask so that the contact holes areself-aligned the S/D features. In furtherance of the embodiments, thegate stacks (or gate hard mask used to form the gate if present) and thegate spacers are collectively used as an etch mask. In this case, theILD material is different from the materials of the gate spacer and thegate hard mask so that to provide etch selectivity. The contact holesformed by the SAC process are defined between the adjacent gate stacksand span from the gate spacer to gate spacer. In some other embodiments,a hard mask is combined with SAC process. Specifically, the hard mask isformed by lithography process to define the locations of the contactholes along a first direction parallel to the gate stacks. The gatestacks and gate spacers additionally function as the etch mask to definethe contact holes along a direction perpendicular to the firstdirection.

Referring to FIG. 5, the method 20 may proceed to an operation 34 toperform an ion pre-amorphorized implantation (PAI) process to the S/Dfeatures (74 and 76) using a first species, thereby generating amorphousregions 82 for better silicide formation. The PAI process is applied tothe semiconductor substrate 52 using the gate stack 64, the ILD materialand STI features 58 collectively function as an implantation mask sothat the amorphous regions 82 are created to be aligned and formed inthe S/D features 74 and 76. In some embodiments, the PAI processincludes an ion implantation process using the first species selectedfrom silicon, germanium or a combination thereof. The first species ischosen without changing the conductivity of the doped region. The PAIprocess is designed with various conditions tuned to effectively convertthe implanted regions to amorphous regions. In an alternativeembodiment, the PAI process is only applied to the second region 56. Forexample, a mask (a hard mask, such as a dielectric layer; or a softmask, such as a photoresist layer) is formed on the semiconductorstructure 50 and is patterned so that the first region 54 is coveredthereby and the second region 56 is exposed within an opening of themask, then PAI process is applied through the opening of the mask suchthat the amorphous region is formed in the second region 56 but not inthe first region 54.

Still referring to FIG. 5, the method 20 proceeds to an operation 36 byperforming an ion implantation process to introduce a second species toboth the first S/D features 74 and the second S/D features 76. Theoperation 36 is designed to reduce the contact resistance to both firstand second S/D features. In the present embodiments, the ionimplantation process in the operation 36 is applied simultaneously toboth the first S/D features 74 in the first region 54 and second S/Dfeatures 76 in the second region 56 without further patterning. Thecontact resistances to both the first and second S/D features can beeffectively reduced due to the characteristics of the second species.The second species includes a metal with a suitable electronegativity.The second species is also referred to as the metal species, comparedwith the first species of a semiconductor material in the PAI process.In some embodiments, the second species is Ytterbium (Yb). In otherembodiments, the second species is another metal, such as Erbium (Er),Yttrium (Y), Platinum (Pt), or Barium (Ba).

Due to the dipole effect of Yb and different semiconductor materials inthe first and second S/D features, Yb diffuses differently in the firstand second S/D features. Especially, Yb diffuses into the second S/Dfeatures faster than the first S/D features. Especially, through theprocess of the method 20, Yb eventually distributes at different heightlevels in the first and second regions, which will be clear at laterstages.

The Yb ion implantation process includes introducing Yb or Yb-containinggas, generating Yb ions and applying Yb ions to the S/D features. If thedosage of Yb is too higher, it will damage the channels and S/Dfeatures, causing various issues such as threshold voltage shifting andDrain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL) degradation. If the dosage of Ybis too lower, it will not effectively change the contact resistances.The ion implantation process is designed with above considerations. Inthe present example, the Yb ion implantation is designed to have anenergy ranging between 0.5 keV and 2.5 keV and a dose ranging between5×10¹³ cm⁻² and 10¹⁵ cm⁻². In other embodiments, the second species isalternatively Erbium (Er), Yttrium (Y), Selenium (Se), Platinum (Pt),Barium (Ba) or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the operation 36 further includes an annealingprocess designed to diffuse the second species; reduce the defectsintroduced in the operations 34 and 36; and activate the S/D features.In some embodiment, the annealing process is a millisecond annealing(MSA) process for reduced side effects from the thermal annealing. Insome embodiments, the annealing process includes an annealingtemperature ranging between 500° C. and 1000° C. After the annealingprocess, the second species is redistributed in the first and secondregions.

Referring to FIG. 6, the method 20 proceeds to an operation 38 byforming silicide features on the S/D features 74 and 76. Silicidefeatures may be further formed on the source and drain regions to reducethe contact resistance. In some embodiments, the silicide features maybe formed by a technique referred to as self-aligned silicide(salicide), which includes metal deposition (such as titanium, tantalumor nickel deposition) onto a silicon substrate, and a thermal anneal toreact the metal with silicon to form silicide, and may further includesan etch to removed un-reacted metal.

In the present example, the deposited metal layer 88 includes two films:a titanium (Ti) film 88A and a titanium nitride (TiN) film 88B on the Tifilm, as illustrated in FIG. 7. For better illustration, only portions(in the dashed circles) of the semiconductor structure 50 in FIG. 6 areshown in FIG. 7. After the metal deposition (Ti and TiN in the presentembodiment), an annealing process is applied to react the metal withsilicon of the S/D features, thereby forming the first silicide feature84 and the second silicide feature 86, as illustrated in FIG. 8. In thepresent example, Ti silicide (TiSi) features are formed on the first andsecond S/D features. In the embodiments when the PAI implemented, theamorphous regions 82 enhance the formation of the silicide features. Theamorphous regions 82 may be completely consumed to form the silicidefeatures in the present embodiment. Particularly, the amorphous regions82 are therefore substantially converted into the silicide features 84and 86, respectively. The first silicide feature 84 formed in the firstregion 54 is from the first semiconductor material (such as siliconcarbide or silicon) in the first S/D features 74 and the second silicidefeature 86 formed in the second region 56 is from the secondsemiconductor material (such as silicon germanium) in the first S/Dfeatures 76. Alternatively, the silicide features may be formed fromother metal, such as tantalum. Nickel or cobalt.

However, as noted above, the diffusion behaviors of the second species(such as Yb) in the first region 54 and the second region 56 aredifferent due to the characteristics of the second species (such as thedipole effect) and further due to the difference of the first and secondsemiconductor materials in composition. The second species diffusesfaster in the second semiconductor material than in the firstsemiconductor material. Therefore, the second species distributesdifferently in the first region 54 and the second region 56. Theportions containing the second species (such as Yb) are referred to asthe metal species-containing (MSC) features, which are labeled as 92 inthe first active region 54 and 94 in the second active region 56,respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Since the second species Ybdiffuses slower in the first semiconductor material than it does in thesecond semiconductor material, the first MSC feature 92 in the firstactive region and the second MSC feature 94 in the second active region56 are at different height levels. The second MSC feature 94 is higherthan the first MSC feature 92. State differently, the first MSC feature92 is more away from the semiconductor substrate 52 than the second MSCfeature 94; and the first MSC feature 92 is substantially distributed inthe amorphous region 82 in the first region 54. Thus, after theamorphous regions 82 are converted into the silicide features in thefirst region 54 and the second region 56, respectively, the secondspecies is substantially distributed in the first silicide feature 84 inthe first active region 54 and is substantially distributed in thesecond S/D feature 76 in the second active region 56. The first MSCfeature 92 is substantially formed in the first silicide feature 84within the first active region 54 and the second MSC feature 94 issubstantially formed in the second S/D feature 76 within the firstactive region 56. The distribution of the second species (such as Yb) inthe silicide in the first active region 54 and the Yb in the second S/Dfeatures 76 will reduce contact resistances in both regions. Thus,without patterning, by implementing one metal ion implantation processusing the second species (such as Yb), both contact resistances to thefirst S/D feature 74 for the nFET and the second S/D feature 76 for thepFET are reduced with enhanced device performances in both regions. Inthe above descriptions, the term “substantially distributed in” a region(or a feature) means that the concentration peak of the metal species islocated in that region (or the feature). In some embodiments, the term“substantially distributed in” means that the more than 70% of thesecond species in that region. In some embodiments, the abovedescriptions, the term “substantially distributed in” means that themore than 90% of the second species in that region. The sentence “thesecond MSC feature 94 is higher than the first MSC feature 92” meansthat the concentration center of the second MSC feature 94 is higherthan the concentration center of the first MSC 92. The concentrationcenter of a MSC feature is the mass center of the metal species in thecorresponding MSC feature.

Referring to back to FIG. 1, the method 20 may further include otheroperations 40 implemented before, during and after various operationsdescribed above. For example, the method 20 may include forming contactfeatures in the contact holes 96 by deposition using one or moreconductive materials, such as tungsten, aluminum or other suitableconductive material, as illustrated in FIG. 8. The formation of thecontact features may further includes applying a CMP process to removeexcessive the conductive material deposited on the ILD layer 78. Inanother example, the method 20 further includes forming other portionsof the interconnection structure. The interconnection structure includesvarious conductive features (such as metal lines and vias) configured tocouple various devices (such as an nFET in the first active region 54and a pFET in the second active region 56) on the semiconductorsubstrate 52 into a functional circuit.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method 100 constructed in accordance withsome other embodiments. The method 100 has some of the operationssimilar to those in the method 20 and those operations are not repeatedhere for simplicity. The method 100 is described below with referencesto FIGS. 2-9. The method 100 starts at 22 by providing the semiconductorsubstrate 52 having the first region 54 and the second region 56. Themethod 100 includes an operation 24 by forming a gate stack 64 on thefirst region 54 and a gate stack 64 on the second region 56. The method100 includes an operation 26 by forming the first S/D feature 74 in thefirst region 54 and the S/D feature 76 in the second region 56. Themethod 100 includes an operation 28 by forming the ILD layer 78 and mayinclude the operation 30 by replace the gate stacks with respectivegates with high k dielectric material and metal. Such formed gate stacksmay be formed in different procedure, such as a gate-last process or ahigh-k last process. Thus formed gate stacks in the first and secondregions may be different in terms of composition and configured formatching work functions and enhanced device performance. The method 100also includes the operation 32 by forming the contact holes in the ILDlayer. In some example, the contact holes are formed by a SAC process.The method 100 may further include the operation 34 by performing a PAIprocess using the first species, such as silicon, germanium or acombination thereof.

The method 100 includes an operation 102 by performing a metal ionimplantation process to the first region 54 and the second region 56,respectively, using the second species, such as Yb, Er, Y, Se, or Pt.The operation 102 is different from the operation 36. The metal ionimplantation process in the operation 102 includes a first metal onimplantation applied to the first active region 54 and a second metalion implantation applied to the second active region 56, respectively.In a particular example, the first metal ion implantation is applied toboth the first active region 54 and the second active region 56; then amask (hard mask or soft mask) is formed on the semiconductor structurecovering the first active region 54 while the second active region 56 isexposed within the opening of the mask; and then the second metal ionimplantation is applied to the second active region 56 only using themask as an implantation mask. The second metal ion implantation isdesigned to have a higher bias power such that the second species (suchas Yb) is introduced to a deeper level in the second S/D feature 76.Alternatively or additionally, another mask is formed on thesemiconductor structure 20 and is patterned to covering the secondactive region 76 while the first active region 74 is exposed within theopening of the corresponding mask. The first metal ion implantation isapplied to the semiconductor structure 20 using this mask as animplantation mask such that the first metal ion implantation is onlyapplied to the first S/D feature 74 in the first active region 54. Thefirst metal ion implantation is designed to have a lower bias power suchthat the second species is introduced to a shallower level in the firstS/D feature 74. In some embodiments, the first and second metal ionimplantations are designed to have different doses for optimized deviceperformance.

After the metal ion implantation process, an annealing process, such asMSA, may be applied to eliminate or reduce the defects in thesemiconductor structure 20, such as the defects caused by the ionimplantations. The method 100 also proceeds to the operation 38 byforming the silicide features on the S/D features in the first andsecond active regions and may further include other fabricationoperations 40.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method 110 constructed in accordance withsome other embodiments. The method 110 has some of the operationssimilar to those in the method 20 and those operations are not repeatedhere for simplicity. The method 110 is described below with referencesto FIGS. 2-8 and 10. The method 110 starts at 22 by providing thesemiconductor substrate 52 having the first region 54 and the secondregion 56. The method 110 includes an operation 24 by forming a gatestack 64 on the first region 54 and a gate stack 64 on the second region56. The method 110 includes an operation 26 by forming the first S/Dfeature 74 in the first region 54 and the S/D feature 76 in the secondregion 56.

Then the method 110 proceeds to the operation 36 by performing a metalion implantation using the second species. In this case, the metal ionsare introduced into the S/D features using the gate stacks 64 and theSTI features 58 collectively as the ion implantation mask. The method110 proceeds to the operation 34 by performing a PAI process using thefirst species, such as silicon, germanium, or a combination thereof. Themethod 110 may include an annealing process (such as MSA), applied toeliminate or reduce the defects in the semiconductor structure 20, suchas the defects caused by the ion implantations after the operation 36 orafter the operations 36 and 34.

Thereafter, the method 110 proceeds to the operation 28 by forming theILD layer 78. The operation 28 may include deposition and CMP. Themethod 110 may further include the operation 30 by replace the gatestacks with respective metal gates having high k dielectric material andmetal electrode. The method 110 also includes the operation 32 byforming the contact holes 80 in the ILD layer 78. In some example, thecontact holes are formed by a SAC process. Then, the method 110 proceedsto the operation 38 by forming the silicide features on the S/D featuresin the first and second active regions and may further include otherfabrication operations 40. In the operation 38, an annealing process isapplied to reactive metal with silicon to form silicide. Especially thesecond species will redistribute due to diffusion, especially during theannealing process. The second species will diffuse faster in the secondsemiconductor material (such as silicon germanium) than in the firstsemiconductor material (such as silicon). The second species willsubstantially distributes in the first silicide feature in the firstactive region 54 and substantially distributes in the second S/D featurein the second active region 56. In other words, the first MSC feature 92is higher than the second MSC feature 94 as illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method 120 constructed in accordance withsome other embodiments. The method 120 has some of the operationssimilar to those in the method 20 and those operations are not repeatedhere for simplicity. The method 120 is described below with referencesto FIGS. 2-8 and 11. The method 120 starts at 22 by providing thesemiconductor substrate 52 having the first region 54 and the secondregion 56. The method 120 includes an operation 24 by forming a gatestack 64 on the first region 54 and a gate stack 64 on the second region56.

The method 120 includes an operation 122 by forming the first S/Dfeature 74 in the first region 54. The formation of the first S/Dfeature 74 is similar to the formation of the first S/D feature 74 inthe method 20. For example, when the first semiconductor material in thefirst S/D feature 74 is different from the semiconductor material in thesemiconductor substrate 52, the first S/D feature 74 is formed by aprocedure includes etching to recess the semiconductor substrate in thefirst active region; and epitaxy growing the first semiconductormaterial (such as silicon carbide) in the recess. The n-type dopant maybe in-situ introduced to the first S/D feature during the epitaxygrowth.

The method 120 also includes an operation 124 by performing a firstmetal ion implantation to the first S/D feature 74 using the secondspecies (such as Yb). Since the first metal ion implantation is designedto and only applied to the first S/D feature 74, the implantation depthis controlled by the implantation bias power such that the secondspecies is distributed in the shallower portion of the first S/D feature74. In some embodiment, a patterned mask is formed on the semiconductorsubstrate 52 by lithography patterning and etching. The patterned maskcovers the second active region 56 and includes an opening to expose thefirst active region 54 for the first metal ion implantation.

In another embodiment, the second species is introduced to the first S/Dfeature 74 during the epitaxy growth of the operation 122. In this case,the gas for the epitaxy growth of the operation 122 also includes achemical containing the second species. So the operations 122 and 124are combined together. Especially, during the epitaxy growth, the gasincludes a first chemical that contains the first semiconductormaterial; a second chemical that contains an n-type dopant; and a thirdchemical that contains the second species.

The method 120 includes an operation 126 by forming the second S/Dfeature 76 in the second region 56. The formation of the second S/Dfeature 76 is similar to the formation of the second S/D feature 76 inthe method 20. For example, when the second semiconductor material inthe second S/D feature 76 is different from the semiconductor materialof the semiconductor substrate 52, the second S/D feature 76 is formedby a procedure includes etching to recess the semiconductor substrate inthe second active region; and epitaxy growing the second semiconductormaterial (such as silicon germanium) in the recess. The p-type dopantmay be in-situ introduced to the second S/D feature 76 during theepitaxy growth. In the present embodiment, the second semiconductormaterial includes silicon germanium.

The method 120 also includes an operation 128 by performing a secondmetal ion implantation to the first S/D feature 76 using the secondspecies (such as Yb). Since the second metal ion implantation isdesigned to and only applied to the second S/D feature 76, theimplantation depth is controlled by the implantation bias power suchthat the second species is distributed in the deeper portion of thesecond S/D feature 76. In some embodiment, a patterned mask is formed onthe semiconductor substrate 52 by lithography patterning and etching.The patterned mask covers the first active region 54 and includes anopening to expose the second active region 56 for the second metal ionimplantation.

In some embodiments, the second species is introduced to the second S/Dfeature 76 during the epitaxy growth of the operation 126. In this case,the gas for the epitaxy growth of the operation 122 also includes achemical containing the second species. So the operations 126 and 128are combined together. Especially, during the epitaxy growth, the gasincludes a first chemical that contains the second semiconductormaterial; a second chemical that contains a p-type dopant; and a thirdchemical that contains the second doping species.

In some embodiments, the second metal ion implantation uses a dopingspecies different from the doping species used in the first metal ionimplantation. The doping species in the second metal ion implantation ischosen to properly adjust its work function.

In some other embodiments, the operations 122 through 128 are in adifferent sequence. For example, the operations 126 and 128 areimplemented before the operations 122 and 124. In some embodiments, onlyone of the 124 and 126 are implemented. For example, only the second S/Dfeature 76 is epitaxy grown with in-situ doping by the second p-typedopant and the second species (such as Yb).

Then the method 120 proceeds to the operation 34 by performing a PAIprocess using the first species, such as silicon, germanium, or acombination thereof. The method 120 may include an annealing process(such as MSA), applied to eliminate or reduce the defects in thesemiconductor structure 20, such as the defects caused by the ionimplantations after the operations 122-128 or after the operation 34.

Thereafter, the method 120 proceeds to the operation 28 by forming theILD layer 78. The operation 28 may include deposition and CMP. Themethod 120 may further include the operation 30 by replace the gatestacks with respective metal gates having high k dielectric material andmetal electrode. The method 120 also includes the operation 32 byforming the contact holes 80 in the ILD layer 78. In some example, thecontact holes are formed by a SAC process. Then, the method 120 proceedsto the operation 38 by forming the silicide features on the S/D featuresin the first and second active regions and may further include otherfabrication operations 40. In the operation 38, an annealing process isapplied to reactive metal with silicon to form silicide. Especially thedoped species will be directly introduced during the epitaxy growth; orbe separately ion implanted to the first and second S/D features,respectively; or even have different doping species to tune therespective work functions in the first and second active regions.

Even though the disclosed method (20, 100, 110 or 120) describes asemiconductor structure 50 having the contact features with reducedcontact resistances and the method making the same in accordance withvarious embodiments, other components (such as gates, and S/D features)of the semiconductor structure 50 may have different configuration andmay be formed by other techniques, as described below.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method 150 making asemiconductor device constructed in accordance with some embodiments.FIGS. 12-19 are sectional views of a semiconductor structure 200 atvarious fabrication stages in accordance with some embodiments. Thesemiconductor structure 200 only illustrates one gate stack. However, itis understood that the semiconductor structure 200 includes the firstregion for at least one nFET and a second region for at least one pFET.The method 150 includes various approaches (such as those described inmethods 20, 100, 110 and 120) to introduce the metal doping species(such as Yb) into the S/D features in nFET and pFET, in order to reducethe contact resistances for both nFET and pFET. Those similardescriptions are not repeated and more details are provided on theformation of other components, such as gate stacks and S/D features, ofthe semiconductor structure. FIG. 20 is a sectional view of the gatestack in the semiconductor structure 200 in accordance with someembodiments. The semiconductor structure 200 and the method 150 ofmaking the same are collectively described with reference to FIGS. 12through 20.

Referring to FIG. 13, the method 150 begins at 152 by providing asemiconductor substrate 210. The semiconductor substrate 210 includessilicon. Alternatively, the substrate 210 includes germanium or silicongermanium. In other embodiments, the substrate 210 may use anothersemiconductor material such as diamond, silicon carbide, galliumarsenic, GaAsP, AlInAs, AlGaAs, GaInP, or other proper combinationthereof.

The semiconductor substrate also includes various doped regions such asn-well and p-wells formed by a proper technique, such as ionimplantation. The semiconductor substrate 210 also includes variousisolation features, such as shallow trench isolation (STI) features 212,formed in the substrate to define active regions 214 and separatevarious devices on the active regions. The formation of the STI mayinclude etching a trench in a substrate and filling the trench byinsulator materials such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or siliconoxynitride. The filled trench may have a multi-layer structure such as athermal oxide liner layer with silicon nitride filling the trench. Inone embodiment, the STI structure may be created using a processsequence such as: growing a pad oxide, forming a low pressure chemicalvapor deposition (LPCVD) nitride layer, patterning an STI opening usingphotoresist and masking, etching a trench in the substrate, optionallygrowing a thermal oxide trench liner to improve the trench interface,filling the trench with CVD oxide, and using chemical mechanicalplanarization (CMP) to polish and planarize.

In some embodiments, the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 210and the top surfaces of the STI features 212 are substantially coplanar,resulting in a common top surface. This is referred to as a planarstructure. In other embodiments, the top surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 210 and the top surfaces of the STI features 212 are notcoplanar, resulting in a three-dimensional structure, such as a finstructure 216, as illustrated in FIG. 14. The active region 214 isextended above the top surface of the STI features 212 and therefore isreferred to as the fin structure. Thus various devices are formed on thefin structure 216. Particularly, a field effect transistors (FET) isformed on the fin structure 216 and the corresponding gate of the FET iscoupled with the channel from the multiple surfaces (top surface andsidewalls) of the fin structure, thus enhancing the device performance.Accordingly, the FET formed on the fin structure 216 is referred to asFinFET. The disclosed structure 200 and the method 100 making the sameprovide improvements to integrated circuits, especially to the FinFET.

The fin structure 216 may be formed by various techniques. In someembodiments, the fin structure 216 is formed by recessing the STIfeatures 212, such as by selective etching. In some other embodiments,the fin structure 216 is formed by selective epitaxy growth (SEG). Inthe SEG process, the fin structure 216 is formed with a semiconductormaterial same to that of the substrate 210 (such as silicon) ordifferent (such as silicon germanium or silicon carbide) to furtherachieve other functions (e.g., straining effect). The most figures beloware still use planar structure for simplicity. However, it is notlimited to the planar structure.

Still referring to FIG. 13, a doped well 218 may be formed in one ormore active region 214. In some embodiments, the active region 214 isdesigned to form a FET, such as a p-type FET (pFET) or an n-type FET(nFET). In some examples, a pFET is to be formed on the active region214, and the doped well 218 includes an n-type dopant, such asphosphorous (P). In some other examples, an nFET is to be formed on theactive region 214, and the doped well 218 includes a p-type dopant, suchas boron (B), distributed in an active region. The dopant may beintroduced to the doped well 218 through an opening of the mask layer bya suitable doping process, such as one or more ion implantation. The STIfeatures 212 further functions to define the dopants to the desiredactive regions. In some embodiments, both nFETs and pFETs are formed thesubstrate 210, such as in complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)circuits.

Still referring to FIG. 13, the method 150 proceeds to an operation 154by forming one or more dummy gate stack 220 on the semiconductorsubstrate 210. The gate stack 220 includes a gate dielectric layer 222and a gate conductive layer 224. The formation of the gate stack 220includes deposition and patterning. The patterning further includeslithography process and etching. A hard mask layer may be further usedto pattern the gate stack 220.

In some embodiments as illustrated on the left of FIG. 13 with moredetails, the gate dielectric layer 222 includes a high k dielectricmaterial layer 222A formed on the semiconductor substrate 210. A cappinglayer 226 may be formed on the gate dielectric layer 222. A polysiliconlayer as the gate conductive layer is formed on the capping layer 226.The gate dielectric layer 222 may further include an interfacial layer(IL) 222B interposed between the semiconductor substrate 210 and thehigh k dielectric material layer 222A.

In furtherance of the embodiments, the interfacial layer 222B is formedon the substrate 210 before forming the high k dielectric material layer222A. The interfacial layer 222B may include silicon oxide formed by aproper technique, such as an atomic layer deposition (ALD), thermaloxidation or UV-Ozone Oxidation. The interfacial layer may have athickness less than 10 angstrom.

The high-k dielectric layer 222A includes a dielectric material havingthe dielectric constant higher than that of thermal silicon oxide, about3.9. The high k dielectric layer 222A is formed by a suitable processsuch as ALD. Other methods to form the high k dielectric material layerinclude metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), physical vapordeposition (PVD), UV-Ozone Oxidation or molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Inone embodiment, the high k dielectric material includes HfO2.Alternatively, the high k dielectric material layer 222A includes metalnitrides, metal silicates or other metal oxides.

The capping layer 226 is formed on the high k dielectric material layer222A. In one embodiment, the capping layer 226 includes titanium nitride(TiN). In another example, the thickness of the titanium nitride layerranges between about 5 angstrom and about 20 angstrom. The capping layer226 may alternatively or additionally include other suitable materials.The capping layer 226 is formed by a proper technique, such as PVD.

The polysilicon layer 224 is formed on the capping layer 226. Thepolysilicon layer 224 is formed by a proper technique, such as CVD. Inone example, the polysilcion layer 224 is non-doped. In another example,the polysilicon layer 224 has a thickness between about 500 angstrom andabout 1000 angstrom.

A patterned mask may be further formed on the multiple gate materiallayers and is used as a mask to form the gate stack 220. The patternedmask is formed on the polysilicon layer 224. The patterned mask definesvarious gate regions and various openings exposing the gate stackmaterial layers to be removed. The patterned mask includes a hard mask,such as silicon nitride and/or silicon oxide, or alternativelyphotoresist. In one embodiment, the patterned mask layer includes apatterned hard mask layer with silicon nitride and silicon oxide. As oneexample, a silicon nitride layer is deposited on the polysilicon layerby a low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) process. The siliconnitride and silicon oxide layers are further patterned using aphotolithography process to form a patterned photoresist layer and anetching process to etch the silicon oxide and silicon nitride within theopenings of the patterned photoresist layer. Alternatively, otherdielectric material may be used as the patterned hard mask. For example,silicon oxynitride may be used as the hard mask. In another embodiment,the patterned mask layer includes a patterned photoresist layer formedby a photolithography process. An exemplary photolithography process mayinclude processing steps of photoresist coating, soft baking, maskaligning, exposing, post-exposure baking, developing photoresist andhard baking. The photolithography exposing process may also beimplemented or replaced by other proper methods such as masklessphotolithography, electron-beam writing, ion-beam writing, and molecularimprint.

The method includes patterning the gate material layers. One or moreetching process is applied to the gate material layers through theopenings of the patterned mask. The etching process may include dryetching, wet etching or a combination thereof, In other examples, theetching process may include multiple steps to effectively etch variousgate material layers.

In some other embodiments, such as in a high-k last process, the high-kdielectric layer is not formed in the dummy gate stack 220. In thiscase, the gate dielectric layer 222 includes silicon oxide and the gateconductive layer 224 includes polysilicon. The deposition and patterningprocesses are similar to those described above.

Referring to FIG. 15, the method 150 includes an operation 156 to formsource and drain 232 in the substrate 210. In the operation 106, a gatespacer 232 may be formed on the sidewall of the gate stack 220. Thesource and drain (S/D) 230 are formed on the substrate 210 andinterposed by the gate stack 220.

In yet another embodiment, the semiconductor structure 200 may furtherinclude light doped drain (LDD) features 232 formed on the substrate 210with the same type conductivity and a lower doping concentration. TheLDD features 232 and S/D 230 are formed respectively ion implantation.One or more thermal annealing process is followed to activate the dopedspecies.

The gate spacer 232 includes one or more dielectric material, such assilicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride or combinationsthereof. In one embodiment, the gate spacer 232 includes a seal spacerdisposed on the sidewall of the gate stack and a main spacer disposed onthe seal spacer, which are formed respectively by a procedure includingdeposition and etch.

In some examples, the source and drain 230 include doped doping speciesintroduced to the semiconductor substrate 210 by a proper technique,such as ion implantation. In one embodiment, the gate stack 220 isconfigured in the active region for a n-type field effect transistor(nFET), the dopant of the source and drain is n-type dopant, such asphosphorus or arsenic. In another embodiment, the gate stack isconfigured in the active region for a p-type field effect transistor(pFET), the dopant of the source and drain is p-type dopant, such asboron or gallium. In yet another embodiment, the source and drain 230include light doped drain (LDD) features and heavily doped source drain(HDD) features, collectively referred to as source and drain (S/D)features. The LDD features and HDD features are formed respectively ionimplantation. One or more thermal annealing process is followed toactivate the doped species.

In some embodiments, the S/D features 230 are formed by epitaxy growthto enhance device performance, such as for strain effect to enhancemobility. In furtherance of the embodiments, the formation of the S/Dfeatures 230 includes selectively etching the substrate 210 to form therecesses 236 as illustrated in FIG. 16; and eptaxy growing asemiconductor material in the recesses 236 to form the source and drain230 (such as those illustrated in FIG. 15).

The recesses 236 may be formed using, such as a wet (and/or dry) etchprocess, selectively etch the material of the substrate 210. Infurtherance of the embodiments, the gate stack 220, the gate spacers234, and the STI 212 collectively function as an etching hard mask,thereby forming the recesses 236 in the source and drain regions. Insome examples, an etchant such as carbon tetrafluoride (CF4),tetramethylammonium hydroxide (THMA), other suitable etchant, or acombination thereof is used to form the recesses 236.

Thereafter, the recesses 132 are filled with a semiconductor material byepitaxially growing S/D features 230 in crystalline structure. Theepitaxy growth may include in-situ doping to form S/D with properdopant. In some embodiments, the epitaxy growth is a selectivedeposition process that involves etching during the epitaxy growth, suchthat the semiconductor material is substantially grown on thesemiconductor surfaces in the recess 236. Particularly, the selectivedeposition process involves chlorine for etching effect and makes thedeposition selective. The selective deposition process is designed andtuned to epitaxially grow such that the S/D 230 formed in the recesses236 include the semiconductor material in a crystalline structure. Thesemiconductor material is different from that of the substrate 210. Forexample, the semiconductor material includes silicon carbide or silicongermanium while the substrate 210 is a silicon substrate. In someembodiments, the semiconductor material is chosen for proper strainedeffect in the channel region such that the corresponding carriermobility is increased. In one example, the active region 214 is for apFET, the semiconductor material is silicon germanium doped with boronfor S/D 230 while the substrate 210 is a silicon substrate. In anotherexample, the active region 214 is for an nFET, the semiconductormaterial is silicon carbide doped with phosphorous for S/D 230 while thesubstrate 210 is a silicon substrate.

Referring to FIG. 17, the method 150 proceeds to an operation 158 byforming an interlayer dielectric (ILD) 240 on the substrate and the gatestack 220. The ILD 240 is deposited by a proper technique, such as CVD.The ILD 240 includes a dielectric material, such as silicon oxide, low kdielectric material or a combination. Then a chemical mechanicalpolishing (CMP) process may be applied thereafter to polarize thesurface of the ILD 240. In one example, the gate stack is exposed by theCMP process for the subsequent processing steps. In another example thatthe hard mask to pattern the gate stack 220 is not removed at theprevious operation, the CMP removes the hard mask as well. Alternativelythe CMP stops on the hard mask and the hard mask is removed thereafterby an etch process.

Referring to FIG. 18, the method 150 proceeds to an operation 160 byremoving the gate stack 220 partially or completely, resulting in a gatetrench 242. The operation 110 includes one or more etching steps toselectively remove the gate conductive layer 224 or alternatively thegate stack 220 by a suitable etching process, such as one or more wetetch, dry etch or a combination.

Referring to FIG. 19, the method 150 proceeds to an operation 162 byforming one or more metal gates 250. The operation 162 includes fillingvarious gate material layers in the gate trench 242, and performing aCMP process to remove excessive gate materials, thereby forming a metalgate 250 in the gate trench 242. In some embodiments such as in high-klast process, the gate material layers includes a gate dielectric layer254 and a gate conductive layer (or gate electrode) 256. The gatedielectric layer 254 includes a high-k dielectric material. The gateconductive layer 256 includes metal. In some embodiments, the gateconductive layer 256 include multiple layers, such as a capping layer, awork function metal layer, a blocking layer and a filling metal layer(such as aluminum or tungsten). The gate material layers may furtherinclude an interfacial layer 252, such as silicon oxide, interposedbetween the substrate 210 and the high-k dielectric material. Theinterfacial layer 252 is a portion of the gate dielectric layer. Thevarious gate material layers are filled in the gate trench 242 bydeposition, such as CVD, PVD, plating, ALD or other suitable techniques.

The high-k dielectric layer 252 includes a dielectric material havingthe dielectric constant higher than that of thermal silicon oxide, about3.9. The high k dielectric layer 252 is formed by a suitable processsuch as ALD. Other methods to form the high k dielectric material layerinclude MOCVD, PVD, UV-Ozone Oxidation or MBE. In one embodiment, thehigh k dielectric material includes HfO2. Alternatively, the high kdielectric material layer 252 includes metal nitrides, metal silicatesor other metal oxides.

In one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 20 in a sectional view, the gateelectrode 256 includes a capping layer 256A, a blocking layer 256B, awork function metal layer 256C, another blocking layer 256D and afilling metal layer 256E. In furtherance of the embodiments, the cappinglayer 156A includes titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, or othersuitable material, formed by a proper deposition technique such as ALD.The blocking layer 256B includes titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, orother suitable material, formed by a proper deposition technique such asALD.

The work functional metal layer 256C includes a conductive layer ofmetal or metal alloy with proper work function such that thecorresponding FET is enhanced for its device performance. The workfunction (WF) metal layer 256C is different for a pFET and a nFET,respectively referred to as an n-type WF metal and a p-type WF metal.The choice of the WF metal depends on the FET to be formed on the activeregion 214. For example, the semiconductor structure 200 includes afirst active region 214 for an nFET and another active region for anpFET, and accordingly, the n-type WF metal and the p-type WF metal arerespectively formed in the corresponding gate stacks. Particularly, Ann-type WF metal is a metal having a first work function such that thethreshold voltage of the associated nFET is reduced. The n-type WK metalis close to the silicon conduction band energy (Ec) or lower workfunction, presenting easier electron escape. For example, the n-type WFmetal has a work function of about 4.2 eV or less. A p-type WF metal isa metal having a second work function such that the threshold voltage ofthe associated pFET is reduced. The p-type WF metal is close to thesilicon valence band energy (Ev) or higher work function, presentingstrong electron bonding energy to the nuclei. For example, the p-typework function metal has a WF of about 5.2 eV or higher.

In some embodiments, the n-type WF metal includes tantalum (Ta). Inother embodiments, the n-type WF metal includes titanium aluminum(TiAl), titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN), or combinations thereof. Inother embodiments, the n-metal include Ta, TiAl, TiAlN, tungsten nitride(WN), or combinations thereof. The n-type WF metal may include variousmetal-based films as a stack for optimized device performance andprocessing compatibility. In some embodiments, the p-type WF metalincludes titanium nitride (TiN) or tantalum nitride (TaN). In otherembodiments, the p-metal include TiN, TaN, tungsten nitride (WN),titanium aluminum (TiAl), or combinations thereof. The p-type WF metalmay include various metal-based films as a stack for optimized deviceperformance and processing compatibility. The work function metal isdeposited by a suitable technique, such as PVD.

The blocking layer 256D includes titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, orother suitable material, formed by a proper deposition technique such asALD. In various embodiments, the filling metal layer 256E includesaluminum, tungsten or other suitable metal. The filling metal layer 256Eis deposited by a suitable technique, such as PVD or plating.

The method 150 proceeds to an operation 162 by form the contactfeatures. The operation 162 includes forming contact holes (such as theoperation 32 of the method 20 in FIG. 1), reducing the contactresistance by introducing the metal doping species to the S/D features(such as forming the MSC features 92 and 94 according to someembodiments), forming the silicide features (such as the operation 38 ofthe method 20 in FIG. 1), and forming the metal plugs in the contactholes (such as by metal deposition and CMP). Especially, the introducingthe metal doping species to the S/D features may be implemented by oneof the methods (20, 100, 110 and 120). For examples, the MSC featuresmay be formed by the operation 36 in the method 20; the operation 102 inthe method 100; the operation 36 in the method 110; or the operations124 and 128 in the method 120.

Other processing steps may follow to form a functional circuit. Forexample, an interconnect structure is formed on the substrate and isdesigned to couple various transistors and other devices to form afunctional circuit. The interconnect structure includes variousconductive features, such as metal lines for horizontal connections andcontacts/vias for vertical connections. The various interconnectfeatures may implement various conductive materials including copper,tungsten and silicide. In one example, a damascene process is used toform copper-based multilayer interconnect structure. In anotherembodiment, tungsten is used to form tungsten plug in the contact holes.

Even though only one gate stack 250 is shown in the figures, however,multiple gate stacks are formed on the substrate 210 and variouscorresponding nFETs, pFETs and other circuit devices are formed on thesubstrate 210. In some embodiments, the gate stack 250 is formed on the3D fin active region and is a portion a FinFET.

The present disclosure is not limited to applications in which thesemiconductor structure includes a filed effect transistor, such as ametal-oxide-silicon (MOS) transistor, and may be extended to otherintegrated circuit having a metal gate stack. For example, thesemiconductor structure 200 may include a dynamic random access memory(DRAM) cell, a single electron transistor (SET), and/or othermicroelectronic devices (collectively referred to herein asmicroelectronic devices). In another embodiment, the semiconductorstructure 200 includes FinFET transistors. Of course, aspects of thepresent disclosure are also applicable and/or readily adaptable to othertype of transistor, and may be employed in many different applications,including sensor cells, memory cells, logic cells, and others.

Although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described indetail, those skilled in the art should understand that they may makevarious changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In one embodiment,the gate electrode may alternatively or additionally include othersuitable metal. The footing procedure may implement other effectivecleaning procedure. The disclosed method is used to but not limited toform one transistor, such as an n-type metal-oxide-semiconductorfield-effect-transistor (nMOSFET). For example, a plurality of nMOSFETsand a plurality of p-type metal-oxide-semiconductorfield-effect-transistors (pMOSFETs) are formed in the same substrate,the nMOSFETs and pMOSFETs are formed in a collective procedure wheresome features are respectively formed. In a particular example, then-type WF metal is formed in the nMOSFET regions while pMOSFET regionsare covered from the deposition of n metal.

In another embodiment, the semiconductor substrate may include anepitaxial layer. For example, the substrate may have an epitaxial layeroverlying a bulk semiconductor. Furthermore, the substrate may include asemiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) structure such as a buried dielectriclayer. Alternatively, the substrate may include a buried dielectriclayer such as a buried oxide (BOX) layer, such as that formed by amethod referred to as separation by implantation of oxygen (SIMOX)technology, wafer bonding, selective epitaxial growth (SEG), or otherproper method.

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure and methodmaking the same. The semiconductor structure includes an nFET and a pFETand contact features disposed on the S/D features, respectively. Themethod includes introducing metal species to the first silicide featureon the first S/D feature for the nFET and introducing the metal speciesto the second S/D feature for the pFET with reduced contact resistanceto both. The metal species includes Ytterbium (Yb), Erbium (Er), Yttrium(Y), Selenium (Se), Platinum (Pt), Barium (Ba) or a combination thereof.In some embodiments, the metal species is introduced to both nFET andpFET by one ion implantation, thereby distributing the metal species atdifferent levels for the nFET and pFET due to the dipole effect of themetal species and different diffusion behaviors in the differentsemiconductor materials.

Various advantages may present in one or more embodiments of the method20 (or 100, or 110 or 120) and the semiconductor structure 50. Forexample, by performing one ion implantation process to both the nFETregion and pFET region without additional patterning, the contactresistances are reduced with reduced cost. In another example, thedisclosed method and the corresponding structure are applicable to theadvanced technology nodes, such as 10 nm or less while the existingmethod experiences various issues (such as threshold voltage shift andthe constrains of the limited contact areas) in the advanced technologynodes.

Thus, the present disclosure provides a method in accordance with someembodiments. The method includes providing a semiconductor substratehaving a first region and a second region; forming a first gate withinthe first region and a second gate within the second region on thesemiconductor substrate; forming first source/drain features of a firstsemiconductor material with an n-type dopant in the semiconductorsubstrate within the first region; forming second source/drain featuresof a second semiconductor material with a p-type dopant in thesemiconductor substrate within the second region. The secondsemiconductor material is different from the first semiconductormaterial in composition. The method further includes forming firstsilicide features to the first source/drain features and second silicidefeatures to the second source/drain features; and performing an ionimplantation process of a species to both the first and second regions,thereby introducing the species to first silicide features and thesecond source/drain features.

The present disclosure provides a method in accordance with some otherembodiments. The method includes providing a semiconductor substratehaving a first region and a second region; forming a first doped featureof a first semiconductor material with an n-type dopant in thesemiconductor substrate within the first region; forming a second dopedfeature of a second semiconductor material with a p-type dopant in thesemiconductor substrate within the second region, wherein the secondsemiconductor material is different from the first semiconductormaterial in composition; and performing an ion implantation processusing Ytterbium (Yb) to both the first and second regions, therebyintroducing Yb to the first doped feature at a first depth and to thesecond doped feature at a second depth, wherein the second depth isgreater than the first depth.

The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure in accordancewith some embodiments. The semiconductor structure includes asemiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region; afirst source/drain feature formed in the semiconductor substrate withinthe first region, wherein the first source/drain feature includes afirst semiconductor material with an n-type dopant; a secondsource/drain feature formed in the semiconductor substrate within thesecond region, wherein the second source/drain feature includes a secondsemiconductor material with a p-type dopant, and the secondsemiconductor material is different from the first semiconductormaterial in composition; and a first silicide feature disposed on thefirst source/drain feature and a second silicide feature disposed on thea second source/drain feature, wherein the first silicide feature isdoped by a doping species and the second source/drain feature is dopedby the doping species.

The foregoing has outlined features of several embodiments. Thoseskilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use thepresent disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processesand structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving thesame advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled inthe art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and thatthey may make various changes, substitutions and alterations hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: providing a semiconductorsubstrate having a first region and a second region; forming a firstgate within the first region and a second gate within the second regionon the semiconductor substrate; forming first source/drain features of afirst semiconductor material with an n-type dopant in the semiconductorsubstrate within the first region, wherein the first source/drainfeatures are interposed by the first gate; forming second source/drainfeatures of a second semiconductor material with a p-type dopant in thesemiconductor substrate within the second region, wherein the secondsource/drain features are interposed by the second gate and the secondsemiconductor material is different from the first semiconductormaterial in composition; forming first silicide features to the firstsource/drain features and second silicide features to the secondsource/drain features; and performing an ion implantation process of aspecies to both the first and second regions, thereby introducing thespecies to first source/drain features and the second source/drainfeatures.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing of the ionimplantation process of the species to both the first and second regionsincludes diffusing the species slower in the first source/drain featurewithin the first region and diffusing the species faster in the secondsource/drain features within the second region.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the performing of the ion implantation process of the speciesto both the first and second regions includes performing an annealingprocess to activate the first and second source/drain features anddiffusing the species.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the performingof the annealing process includes performing millisecond anneal (MSA)process.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing of the ionimplantation process of the species to both the first and second regionsincludes performing the ion implantation with Ytterbium (Yb) as thespecies.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the performing of the ionimplantation process of the species includes performing a Yb ionimplantation with an energy ranging between 0.5 keV and 2.5 keV and adose ranging between 5×10¹³ cm⁻² and 10¹⁵ cm⁻².
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the performing of the ion implantation process of the speciesto both the first and second regions includes performing the ionimplantation with the species selected from the group consisting ofErbium (Er), Yttrium (Y), Selenium (Se), Platinum (Pt) and Barium (Ba).8. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing apre-amorphorized implantation (PAI) process to the first and secondsource/drain features in the second region, prior to the performing ofthe ion implantation process of the species to both the first and secondregions.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the performing of the PAIprocess includes performing an ion implantation by an ion speciesselected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium and acombination thereof.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming ofthe first silicide features to the first source/drain features and thesecond silicide features to the second source/drain features includes:depositing a titanium film on the first and second source/drainfeatures; depositing a titanium nitride film on the titanium film; andreacting the titanium film with first semiconductor material in thefirst region and the second semiconductor material in the second region,thereby forming the first silicide features on the first source/drainfeatures and the second silicide features on the second source/drainfeatures.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming of the firstsource/drain features of the first semiconductor material includesforming the first source/drain features with the first semiconductormaterial selected the group consisting of silicon and silicon carbide;and wherein the forming of the second source/drain features of thesecond semiconductor material with the second semiconductor materialselected from the group consisting of silicon germanium and silicon. 12.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming contact holes alignedwith the first and second source/drain features using aself-aligned-contact process that includes performing an etching processusing a gate hard mask and a gate spacer as a collective etch mask. 13.A method, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate having a firstregion and a second region; forming a first doped feature of a firstsemiconductor material with an n-type dopant in the semiconductorsubstrate within the first region; forming a second doped feature of asecond semiconductor material with a p-type dopant in the semiconductorsubstrate within the second region, wherein the second semiconductormaterial is different from the first semiconductor material incomposition; and performing an ion implantation process using Ytterbium(Yb) to both the first and second regions, thereby introducing Yb to thefirst doped feature at a first depth and to the second doped feature ata second depth, wherein the second depth is greater than the firstdepth.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising performing anannealing process to activate the first and second doped features anddiffusing Yb.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the performing of theion implantation process includes performing a Yb ion implantation withan energy ranging between 0.5 keV and 2.5 keV and a dose ranging between5×10¹³ cm⁻² and 10¹⁵ cm⁻².
 16. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising: performing a pre-amorphorized implantation (PAI) process tothe semiconductor substrate before the performing of the ionimplantation process using Yb; and performing a millisecond anneal (MSA)process the semiconductor substrate after the performing of the ionimplantation process using Yb.
 17. A method comprising: forming a firstsource/drain feature of a first semiconductor material with a first typedopant in a semiconductor substrate; forming a second source/drainfeature of a second semiconductor material with a second type dopant inthe semiconductor substrate, wherein the second semiconductor materialis different from the first semiconductor material in composition andthe second type dopant is opposite the first type dopant; implanting adopant species into the first source/drain feature and the secondsource/drain feature such that the dopant species in the firstsource/drain feature extends to a first depth within the firstsource/drain feature and the dopant species in the second source/drainfeature extends to a second depth within the second source/drain featurethat is different than the first depth; and after implanting the dopantspecies into the first source/drain feature and the second source/drainfeature, forming a first silicide feature on the first source/drainfeature and second silicide feature on the second source/drain feature.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the dopant species is a dopantselected from the group consisting of Erbium (Er), Yttrium (Y), Platinum(Pt), or Barium (Ba).
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the dopantspecies is Ytterbium (Yb).
 20. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising performing a pre-amorphorized implantation process to thefirst source/drain feature to form a first amorphous region in the firstsource/drain feature and performing the pre-amorphorized implantationprocess to the second source/drain feature to form a second amorphousregion in the second source/drain feature, the first amorphous regionextending to a third depth within the first source/drain feature that isdifferent than the first depth and the second amorphous region extendingto a fourth depth within the second source/drain feature that isdifferent than the second depth.